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The Best Cycling Kits for Winter 2017

By Gear Patrol Photo by Henry Phillips

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated with new picks for Winter 2017/18. You can find last year’s picks on Page 2.

So you live in a cold-weather area, you ride bikes, and you don’t like being: a) lazy, b) sweaty, or c) claustrophobic on an indoor trainer. This winter, fight those dastardly elements and show Mother Nature who’s boss. Body over weather! Pride over cowardice! Bike over couch!

Cold

If it’s just a little too cold for a simple long-sleeved jersey, this is your kit. Pactimo, a company that got its start in Colorado creating custom cycling gear for Olympians and everyday die-hards, makes a wide variety of warm- and cold-weather cycling gear; its Alpine series, which hit shelves this year, is warm but not stifling. Each piece is compressive and sweat-wicking, and the outerwear has integrated reflective patches. On chilly morning rides, wear the full kit; when the sun starts shining, peel off a few layers.

Colder

The first thing you’ll notice about UK-based Ashmei is its overall aesthetic — refined, minimalist and tonal, sprinkled here and there with Ashmei’s characteristic polka dots. It’s among the best-looking cycling apparel available today. Beneath its good looks, though, Ashmei’s products are fantastically high-performance, built from the ground-up with only the finest materials and construction methods. This kit exemplifies that rare balance of form and function, and will keep you toasty warm down to 30-degrees Fahrenheit or so.

Coldest

Headquartered in the Swiss Alps, ASSOS is known for its stringent attention to quality control. All of its products are made in-house by a team of master designers, seamsters and passionate cyclists. Unsurprisingly, being a hard-ass about how a certain jersey or bib is made produces amazing products, evidenced clearly in ASSOS’ collection of sub-freezing cycling clothing. When the snow is falling sideways and the wind is blowing hard enough to stop school buses, this is your kit.

Made using the same functional materials as sleeping bags — materials like water-repellent down insulation and ripstop nylon shells — camp blankets are perfect for warm weather camping and fit right in inside the home too.

Choosing one among the endless many is no easy task. Moreover, since the average price for an SUV 2017 was just under $40,000, it’s a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. To cover all the bases, we bumped the budget up to $50,000 and chose the best new SUVs you can buy in 2018.